The Nicaraguan Civil War and the CIA

Alexander Wade

The Basics

• Lasted from 1979 to 1990• Two conflicts– Sandinistas vs. Somoza Govt.– Contras vs. Sandinista Govt.

• Somoza and Contras supported by USA; Sandinistas by USSR and Cuba

The Somozas

• Descended from wealthy oligarchal family• Brutal dictators, first installed and supported

by the US in 1933• Overthrown by the Sandinistas in 1979 after

years of guerilla war• Attempted to flee to the United States, settled

in Paraguay; assassinated by Sandinista supporters

The Sandinistas

• Named for earlier guerilla leader General Augusto Sandino, who resisted the US invasion

• Communistic guerillas, fought the militaristic dictator family Somoza

• Liberated Managua (capital) in June, 1979• Established an equally brutal, but slightly

more efficient, government year and a half later

The Contras

• Made of various rival guerilla factions, at war as often with each other as with Sandinistas

• Supported by the US• Included many of Somoza’s old secret police

and National Guardsmen• Specialized in the massacre of unarmed

civilians, much more than the Sandinistas during their guerilla war

After Somoza

• Eventually, Somoza became despised by Carter, who withdrew support, allowing the Sandinistas to win

• Daniel Ortega and four other men form the new governing council

• New government promises and deliver’s reforms (Literacy, overhaul of infrastructure, etc.)

• Lasts until 1981, when non-Sandinistas forced from government

Rise of the Contras• Ronald Regan begins to fund various guerilla groups,

hoping to contain Sandinistas and preserve dictator of El Salvador

• Two large groups form: – Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) (Supported and created by

CIA and Pinochet’s Argentine Intelligence)– Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) (Created by ex-

Sandinistas, other smaller groups)• Third group, Misurasata, forms out of disenfranchised

Indian tribes and groups• All three groups frequently skirmished

US Policies

• Carter believes Sandinista revolution to be justified, helps supply Sandinista govt. with supplies, money, weapons, etc.

• When Carter leaves office, Regan reverses the decision• Instead, supplies Contras, ostentatiously to prevent the

Sandinistas from selling weapons to Salvadorian communists

• Contras fight Sandinistas with weapons from the US, than sell the weapons to the same Communist guerillas in El Salvador

Contra Reactions (External)

• Offends and frightens the other C. and S. American leaders; drives them to Soviet side

• Fails to help situation in El Salvador• Gives the USSR excellent propaganda against

the US; US loses moral high ground• Contras degenerate; ex-Somoza guardsmen

kill Americans as well as others

Contra Reactions (Internal)

• Congress offended• Public offended, mistrustful of Regan• Iran-Contra Affair• Gives Democratic Party ammunition

1984-1987

• Years of low grade skirmishing between Honduran troops and Contras (both supported by the USA) and the Sandinistas

• Both sides enter the drug market to pay war debt; CIA actually helps the Contras

• Both sides massacre various peasants and burn farms and plantations, and order periodic assassinations

• Finally, Ortega breaks gridlock by offering to hold free elections in 1990

1988-1990

• House of Representatives kills more attempts by Regan to send money to the Contras

• Violeta Chamorro declares candidacy• Nicaragua’s economy put into shambles;

hurricane ravishes infrastructure• 1990 elections: Chamorro’s Opposition Party

wins 56% of the vote, Ortega’s Sandinistas 40%

After Ortega

• March 12, Ortega relinquishes power peacefully

• March 13, Violeta Chamorro steps up, US lifts trade sanctions and embargo

• April 25, Chamorro is sworn in• Sergio Palacios “Charro” Cruz, an ex-Contra,

takes up arms against the new government

CIA? What Exactly did They Do?

• Gun running – Smuggling arms and armor into the country

• Training – Trained first Sandinista, than Contra guerillas in the best way to blow stuff up

• Drug Smuggling – Largest transporter from Colombia to Nicaragua, Nicaragua to US

• Transportation – Transported units of Contra groups and elements of Honduran Army to Nicaraguan interior

Long Term Effects

• Last unexploded land mine from civil war removed in 2006 – 16 years after end of hostilities

• Nicaragua’s economy is still messed up, with low literacy

• Major drug routes still run through Nicaragua• Daniel Ortega is once again president –

through election